The crews of 10 surface ships and boats from the Red Banner brigade of the Caspian Flotilla’s ships have started to practice the accomplishment of combat missions

Russia’s Caspian Flotilla drills (archive)

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Russia’s Caspian Flotilla launched naval drills on Tuesday, two days after large-scale command and staff exercises and a snap check of troops' combat readiness came to an end in the country.

Gunnery ships and boats left their bases together with a squadron of the Caspian Flotilla’s minesweepers to practice sea battle tactics, the press office of the Southern Military District told TASS on Tuesday.

"The crews of 10 surface ships and boats from the Red Banner brigade of the Caspian Flotilla’s ships have started to practice the accomplishment of combat missions. They include the Volgodonsk and Makhachkala small gunships, the Magomet Gadzhiyev base trawler, coastal minesweepers and project 1204 Shmel small artillery boats," the Southern Military District’s spokesman said.

Russia’s strategic command and staff exercises and a surprise check of troops’ combat readiness kicked off on March 16 and ended on March 21.

The surprise check started with Russia’s Northern Fleet, units and formations of its Western Military District and the Airborne Force and subsequently extended to troops in other Russian regions. It involved 80,000 troops, 10,000 pieces of military hardware, 65 combat ships, 15 submarines and over 200 aircraft and helicopters.